Banks and Bailouts

First published on automaticfinances.com

Banks keep making news. One caption in the April 18th Washington Post reads "Bank Profits Mask Peril Still Lurking." Readers learn the biggest of America's banks like Citigroup and J. P. Morgan Chase are reporting large first quarter profits, but remain pessimistic about their future and the future of the economy.

The Federal government has been bailing out the nation’s banks since last summer, handing out billions in emergency reserves with as many as 500 banks mentioned, always with a press release telling the public there must be bailouts or the banks and economy will collapse.

A collapse of the financial system is more complicated than the government wants to talk about. One type of collapse would occur if banks could not clear checks for their checking account customers. You and I go to pay our phone bill and the check bounces, but it’s not our fault the bank has run out of reserves.

That could be called a calamitous collapse. Technically it could occur because the United States uses a fractional banking system, which means individual banks only hold a fraction of their checking account liabilities as reserves to pay checks. Typically the Federal Reserve requires monetary reserves around 15 percent for checking account liabilities, the rest can go to loans. When customers with checking accounts also make deposits and borrowers make their loan payments 15 percent will be enough.

When borrowers default by the billion, banks will not have reserves to pay on their checking accounts, which signals a collapse of the banking system. Not to worry though because the Federal Reserve bank has the ability and full authority to provide the necessary reserves to America’s banks and they have been doing just that.

Making sure there are reserves for checking account customers could be called an essential and adequate bailout. It is the minimum that must be done to keep payments flowing and prevent an economic collapse.

However, the government is going far beyond that minimum with its bank bailouts. They press billions more of reserves on the banks, telling them to forget about defaulters and go find some more borrowers. In effect, the government wants our banking system to lead America out of recession. It is not working though, at least not so far.

The bank profits mentioned in the article above are coming from more recent loans for spending made with the bailout reserves, but bank officials themselves are saying these loans went to other weak and potentially defaulting borrowers. Many banks, especially large ones, have been doing a large share of their business in credit cards for some time, but wages and employment are in no shape to expect credit card lending to revive the economy.

We need spending to get the economy going, but right we will have to trust the Obama spending plan and not the banks. Banks will follow America out of recession, but there is no sign yet they will lead us where we need to go.

Henry Ford and Mass Production

First published in the pulsereview.com April 24, 2009

Mass production needs mass markets. It’s not a new idea. Back in 1914 Henry Ford opened his Model T auto plant using the assembly-line method; a new invention at the time. To the anger and indignation of the nation’s business community, he offered the unheard of high wage of $5 a day.

Apparently he knew he would be producing more cars than Americans could buy, but the higher wage would help him sell what he could produce. Now, almost a hundred years later, America can produce millions of new cars Americans cannot afford, and the industry Henry Ford founded totters on the brink of bankruptcy.

When a country does not buy what it can produce it will have idle factories and idle workers: a recession as America is having now. Back in the 1930’s during the Great Depression the Roosevelt administration adopted a policy of spending the country out of depression. Having the government borrow and spend comes with worries and conflicts over debt and deficits, but it does pump money into the spending stream and create jobs.

The Roosevelt policy was the start of a great tradition in American politics for both Republicans and Democrats, who always adopt a policy of spending America out of recession. The Obama stimulus plan is in that great tradition. In the current down turn the government plans to spend on many new projects, pumping money into states and communities and leading the way for private sector spending.

The presumption of the stimulus policy is the same as always: government spending is regarded as inferior to private spending and therefore a temporary stimulus until private sector spending takes over. But in the recession of 2009 we may want to remember Henry Ford just to remind ourselves that adequate private sector buying power cannot be assumed.

A policy to spend America back into prosperity needs people and families who return all their money to the spending stream in stable and predictable ways. A married couple supporting themselves as cashiers can be expected to spend all their money on room and board, car loans, gasoline, phone service, clothing and, we hope, a little left over for health care and entertainment.

Cashier is one of America’s two biggest jobs, which are retail salesperson and cashier. Together they make up 8 million jobs, or almost 6 percent of America’s jobs at establishments. The median wage for a cashier reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is $17,160, but the 90th percentile wage is still only $24,600. For a couple both earning $24,600 the Federal income and payroll taxes come to $7,656.30, not to mention state income taxes, sales taxes, utility taxes, gas taxes and a few more. Retail sales and cashier are just two jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports hundreds more with millions employed earning wages no more than cashiers.

The millions who earn low wages and pay high taxes contrast sharply with news of the very rich and news of the growing inequality of income. Corporate heads with bonus and severance packages get millions of dollars. Hedge fund managers get paid in capital gains that have favorably lower tax rates than wages.

Recently the Statistics on Income Division of the IRS published its report on the 400 individual tax returns with the highest adjusted gross incomes. It is for the years 1992 to 2006. For 2006, they report the adjusted gross income for each of the top 400 was an average of $263.3 million dollars. The top 400 taxpayers divvy up a total of $105.3 billion dollars

So often discussion of the rich and the taxes they pay, or don’t pay, starts and ends with what is fair. The rich should pay their “fair share”, whatever that might be. But in a country that expects to spend itself into prosperity, it is worth asking how and when the rich get their billions back into the spending stream?

For the stimulus plan to work any income not spent as consumption, has to make its way back into the economy as loans to borrowers. After all, mass markets need mass production, which means saving has to be turned into loans for projects that support jobs building factories, rapid rail lines, solar panels and other real capital.

Financial intermediaries, formerly known as banks, savings and loans, credit unions, finance companies, mortgage or investment banks and a few more, cumulate the savings of savers in order to make loans to borrowers. They act as intermediaries because they are like agents in the middle of a transaction between savers and borrowers. Their sole function is to channel the savings of net savers back into the spending stream as loans to net borrowers.

There was a time when it was common for borrowers to create long lived assets, but back in the 1980’s adventurous money managers starting having loanable funds to buy thousands of real estate mortgages, which they bundled for resale into an interest earning asset like a bond. They called them Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO), or Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMO) and more recently, Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). In that way mortgages could be resold to smaller investors who would not normally buy individual mortgages.

What is important to notice though is that repackaging and reselling mortgages does not create new assets. Reselling mortgages means more transactions that allow money managers to charge fees and potentially make money with price fluctuations, but nothing new or usable results from the repeated resale of mortgages.

As the 1980’s passed through the 1990’s and into the new millennium the traditional means of finance like stocks and bonds were still available, but they gave way to Mortgage Backed Securities and new and exotic investment derivatives: principal only strips, interest only strips, credit default swaps and on and on.

Reselling mortgages as Mortgage Backed Securities got so lucrative that money managers started running out of mortgages to bundle and resell. To keep it going it was necessary to start lending to unqualified homebuyers, a practice that many will remember as sub prime lending and sub prime loans.

We have to think financial intermediaries with qualified homebuyers, or qualified business and corporate borrowers, would lend to them before lending to unqualified borrowers in the sub prime lending market. Lending billions to unqualified borrowers suggests there was a large surplus of loanable funds.

It is not surprising that a bubble of surplus loanable funds and the fantastic growth in Mortgage Backed Securities took place after tax cuts that further reduced tax rates at the highest incomes, but especially for reductions in taxes on capital gains and the new tax reductions on corporate dividends. These reductions helped increase disposable incomes for the richest Americans, as the IRS data so clearly shows.

Recall a recent need for loanable funds to rebuild New Orleans following hurricane Katrina. Instead America’s loanable funds went for transactions where nothing happened, save for gambling in speculative financial derivatives. And then we realize tax cuts for the rich helped generate an immense surplus of loanable funds that were wasted on financial speculation rather than building productive capacity because millions of wage earners could not buy what America can produce.

Where are you Henry Ford when we need you? In 1975 America taxed the rich at a 70 percent marginal tax rate, but not that many years before marginal tax rates were 90 percent. Now the rich tend to pay 15 percent on capital gains and dividends.

The rich failed themselves, but they also failed the country, which is why America needs to return to taxing the rich at 90 percent.

Nurses

"Jobs Scarce, Even for Nurses" reads the caption of an article from the Washington Post from April 5th. Readers hear that the current economy freezes the field of nursing once short of workers. The article has interviews with area nurses looking for jobs and hospital administrators in charge of patient care services. Applicants complain they do not even get courtesy call backs. At Calvert Memorial Hospital the VP for patient care said "In medical and surgical, I have absolutely zero openings."

It sounds gloomy, but the truth comes later when the author admits the current situation is a "blip when the [bad] economy masks the true nursing shortage." The author also reported "that 27,771 qualified applicants were turned away by nursing schools last year largely because a lack of instructors."

Over the last 12 months the total of America’s jobs are down 4.8 million, but health care jobs are up 377,000 anyway. Only education and government have any job increases, but health care has more than double the increase there.

There are few occupations with a better job outlook than registered nursing, which is the 6th largest occupation if we combine all elementary and secondary education teaching as one occupation. Register nursing with 2.5 million jobs is 4 to 5 times the number of physicians and more than any other healthcare job.

Registered nurses make up the biggest share of hospital jobs: generally 25 to 30 percent of hospital staffing. No other occupation comes close to that share and no hospital can operate without them. Right now about 60 percent of the nation’s 2.5 million registered nurses work in hospitals whereas only 26 percent of the nation’s 749,000 Licensed Practical Nurses and 29 percent of the nation’s 1.5 million Nurses Aides work in hospitals. Registered nursing has more employment than Licensed Practical Nursing and Nurses Aides combined, and the gap is growing.

Hospitals are not finding ways to reduce their registered nursing needs and maintain patient care, nor substitute cheaper Licensed Practical Nurses or Nurses aides in their place. Instead, registered nursing jobs are up an average 39,810 a year between 2000 and 2007; Licensed Practice Nurses are up 5,681; Nurses Aides are up 16,686. Registered nursing is growing faster than jobs in the national economy and faster than Licensed Practical nursing and nurses aides.

Registered nurses have opportunities to advance to higher specialties as advance practice nurses: nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse midwives, and certified registered nurse anesthetists. These possibilities for advancement are not open to Licensed Practical Nurses or Nurses Aides unless they return to school for degree training to be registered nurses.

The 40 percent of registered nursing jobs outside of hospitals are scattered in ambulatory health care, especially office practice, nursing facilities, education and government. All of these sectors including education and government employment continue to grow despite the recession with some of their new jobs in nursing and nursing instructors, also in short supply.

Need a job? Be a nurse. Now you know.

Recession Sends Lawyers Home

Recession sends lawyers home is the caption on a Washington Post article of March 9, 2009. On the first line readers learn "Across the Country, the recession is putting increasing pressure on law firms to slash spending and discount their service." A sharp decline in litigation and the demand for lower prices has prompted firms to outsource document review work to India, hire temp lawyers, work for fixed fees and eliminate staff.

The article introduces the "virtual" law firm, which is billed as "much better suited to the current economic conditions." A "virtual" law uses the telephone, the Internet and video conferencing to avoid the expense of law offices and staff. Lawyers need to be able to type and be their own secretary in the virtual law firm.

Even though lawyers are a learned profession their jobs are part of the service economy where many services turn out to be optional and expendable in hard times. That's because for years the laid off from manufacturing have been finding jobs for services like gambling, yard work, lawn care, dining out, fast food, spas, personal trainers, wedding planners, college consultants, nannies, maids, salons, pet care, dog walkers, diet plans, weight loss, tanning, tattoo parlors.

Many working in the leisure and hospitality industry are vulnerable because their customers can be "do-it-yourselfers." For example, jobs at Fitness Centers and Recreational Sports Centers reached a high of 594,000 in July of 2008, but dropped to 472,000 by December. People need exercise but they can jog in the park or jog on a treadmill; one has jobs, one does not. Health clubs support transactions and jobs where fitness and aerobics instructors exceeded 220 thousand across the country, at least before the recession sent thousands of them to the unemployment office.

Jobs are created by spending and production and President Obama's Stimulus plan will help create jobs. It is probably not enough spending given the number of America's vulnerable and expendable service jobs. Service jobs sink and sink fast in a recession as they are now, but it will take ever increasing amounts of spending to get jobs to recover in America's service economy. Lawyers have some ways to cut costs and offer discounts to help revive their industry. Others are not so lucky.

How the Crash will Reshape America

"How the Crash Will Reshape America" by Richard Florida, Atlantic Magazine, Volume 303, No. 2, March 2009

In "How the Crash Will Reshape America" Richard Florida tells readers no place in the United States will escape the long and deep recession he sees ahead, but the keyword in the title is "Reshape." At the end of the introductory paragraphs he predicts recession and decline spreading outward from New York to Detroit and the Sun Belt in a way that will permanently alter, or reshape, America’s economic landscape. In apocalyptic words, he writes, " … it will permanently and profoundly alter the country’s economic landscape . I believe it marks the end of a chapter in American economic history, and indeed, the end of a whole way of life."

The article runs 8 pages, which is long enough to develop and explain thesis predictions. After the brief introduction, material divided into 7 sub-headings develops his thesis: place matters in economic growth with the advantage going to a discrete number of mega-regions around the world. He argues place matters in economic geography because some cities and regions have an advantage in attracting highly educated people.

Little is said about mega-regions around the world, but Florida takes readers around the United States: New York, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix. Mostly he tells readers how these areas once prospered doing things that will no longer generate growth. Phoenix, for example, relied too much on real estate.

In the third section he tells readers educational attainment shows "Cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, Raleigh and Boston now have two to three times the college graduates of Akron or Buffalo."

Florida does not cite data on educational attainment, nor do much to develop educational attainment, nor develop his earlier suggestion that cities with highly educated people will have an advantage in the future. Instead, he tells readers about a pioneering theory of urban evolution by a multidisciplinary team of researchers at the Santa Fe Institute. Their theory is called "urban metabolism." These researchers found that trends in innovation, patent activity, wages, and GDP are the opposite of biological organisms; they tend to grow faster as they get bigger. Florida quotes the Santa Fe Institute: "the larger a city’s population, the greater the innovation and wealth creation per person." Further he concludes "Places like New York with finance and media, Los Angeles with film and music, and Silicon Valley with high tech are all examples of high-metabolism places."

There are a few policy suggestions by the closing page. He wants to remove subsidies for home ownership, which he argues restricts mobility and uses resources that would be better used in medical technology, software and alternative energy. He predicts jobs will cluster in a smaller number of bigger cities so he favors making these elite cities more attractive and affordable. Decline in other areas cannot be stopped and it would be foolish to try.

For an article that starts out with bold assertions and a bold prediction I reached the end feeling disappointed. Forecasting growth for “high metabolism places” has a trendy ring, but I am from the old school where people move out of low wage places with declining jobs to go to higher wage places with more jobs. I can agree with Mr. Florida: the crash will "Reshape" America. I am still unsure how.

Savings and Layoffs

The superintendent at my local school district has announced plans for upcoming layoffs to save money caused by a budget shortfall. He plans to layoff one from office staff and one from the janitorial staff at each school. They expect to enlarge class size to cut back on teachers.

Layoffs put people into the job market adding to job seekers and making it easier for employers to offer lower wages. We might call that the obvious effect, but savings from layoffs have another effect: an increase in uncompensated work.

Teachers have never been hourly rated employees. Phrasing in teacher contracts assures long work hours. “Teacher shall perform such duties as deemed necessary, shall attend all assigned meetings, shall be present at school during school hours, shall be present at school or other location outside school hours as directed in connection with school events or activities.”

With a contract clause like that school officials can save money giving teachers more students and more work, like suggesting they may need to empty a few wastebaskets and fill out or file a few extra forms; work formally done by those laid off janitors and office staff.

Overtime pay rules in the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act require time and a half pay for hourly rated employees working over 40 hours a week. However, over the last 8 years many new exemptions and amendments were made to overtime work rules. Executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees paid on a salary basis can be exempted from over time pay. The new rules can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor website.

The 40-hour work week has been the standard full time workweek for more than eighty years, but pressuring people to work additional hours makes it easier to turn layoffs into a permanent loss of jobs.

The worst abuses are apparently in the managerial ranks where the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a decline 2 million managerial jobs at establishments since 1999. Managerial jobs for 1999 are reported at 8,063,410; managerial jobs for 2007 are reported at 6,003,930. Three people working 40 hours a week equals two people working 60 hours a week but with a one-third savings in labor costs.

My superintendent’s cost cutting plan comes right as the Congress debates billions of dollars in bailouts for defaulting homeowners, bankrupting car companies and failing banks. Maybe they could pass of few million along to my school district, but it will not matter much unless they get to the real problem: wages and employment. They could start with the Fair Labor Standards Act and fix those destructive overtime rules.

Featured Jobs

Featured Job from November 11, 2010 Physical Therapy with Previous featured jobs

Physical Therapy -

Physical therapy services are part of health care that is delivered by people working in three occupations: Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants and Physical Therapist Aides. The three and their Standard Occupational Classification codes are defined below.

29-1123 Physical Therapists
Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and decrease or prevent deformity of patients suffering from disease or injury.

31-2021 Physical Therapist Assistants
Assist physical therapists in providing physical therapy treatments and procedures. May, in accordance with State laws, assist in the development of treatment plans, carry out routine functions, document the progress of treatment, and modify specific treatments in accordance with patient status and within the scope of treatment plans established by a physical therapist. Generally requires formal training.

31-2022 Physical Therapist Aides
Under close supervision of a physical therapist or physical therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations. These duties include preparing the patient and the treatment area.

Physical therapists need a license that usually requires a master's degree for entry. Around 85 percent work in health care, 5 percent in education and a few try to work as self employed. Physical therapy assistants and aides are tied to working for, or with, physical therapists. Physical therapy assistants do not have specific educational requirements and only about 20 percent have a BA degree or above in any field.

Physical therapy services are like many services in and out of health care in that the occupational definition and work of physical therapist establishes that physical therapists can do all of the work of physical therapy assistants and physical therapy aides. Physical therapy assistants can do all the work of physical therapy aides. Employers have the financial incentive to limit the work of physical therapists to that part of physical therapy that requires the training and license of a physical therapist. By splitting the work into more specialized parts they can hire much cheaper assistants and aides to do the other work and limit the number of jobs they must have for the higher paid work. That goes on in millions of America's jobs.

National employment as physical therapists reached 174,490 as of 2009, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies as a job needing at least BA degree skills. Jobs are up by an average of 6,009 a year since 2000 with a growth rate far below the national average. Physical therapy assistants had 63,250 jobs in 2009 with jobs up an average of 2,181 a year since 2000 and a growth rate above the national average. Physical therapy aides had 44,160 jobs with jobs up an average of 1,606 a year and growth above the national average.

In general physical therapy degree training is either BA, or usually MA, but any degree training for an assistant might be an associates degree in some allied health program. Expect though that no one wants to do physical therapy degree training to be a physical therapy assistant. There is no AA degree in physical therapy as such, but various exercise and health degrees. Therefore, much of the work of the assistant is on the job training. The physical therapy aide job is dead end work by itself.

Job growth is not the only measure of new hiring. Job openings equal job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can be any job growth. Job openings for physical therapists have been averaging around 7,860 per year in recent years; openings for physical therapy assistants are expected to average 3,050 a year; for physical therapy aides 2,340 a year.

Averages are not used much in wage data. A few high wages pull up the average and make it unrepresentative. Instead a distribution range of wages is published with the 10th, 25th, median, 75th, and 90th percentiles of wages. A 10th percentile wage means 10 percent working in this job have wages equal to or less than the 10th percentile wage and so on. Annual wages are converted to hourly wages by dividing annual by 2,080.

The entry wage in the 10th percentile for physical therapists is reported as $52,170 in 2009. The median wage is $74,480, and the 90th percentile wage is $105,900. Yearly reported wage increases barely keep up with inflation especially in the higher range of salary. Buying power is about the same or a little less over the last 7 to 8 years.

The entry wage in the 10th percentile for physical therapy assistants is reported as $30,400 in 2009. The median wage is $48,290, and the 90th percentile wage is $66,460. Yearly reported wage have been keeping up with inflation. Buying power is up moderately over the last 7 to 8 years.

The entry wage in the 10th percentile for physical therapy aides is reported as $17,330 in 2009. The median wage is $28,890, and the 90th percentile wage is $34,100. Yearly reported wage increases are not keeping up with inflation. Buying power is about the same or a little lower over the last 7 to 8 years.

New BA, MA and doctorate degrees in Physical Therapy are part of 11 different Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professional degree specialties and those 11 are part of 164 degree programs in health professions and related clinical sciences. BA degrees in physical therapy programs totaled 584 for the year ending 2008. The total is down from the recent high of 778 degrees in 2005. However, the MA degree and Doctorate degree are more important than a BA degree in physical therapy. The MA degree had 1,924 graduates in the year ending June 2008, but that was down from 4,687 in 2002. The doctorate degree had 5,707 degrees in the year ending June 2008, but that was up from 966 in 2001. Therefore the doctorate degree is replacing other physical therapy degrees as the education level for physical therapy.

Physical therapist is just one of hundreds of jobs using college degree skills. For other degrees and other jobs see the College Jobs Review.

Previous Featured Jobs

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Computer Software Engineers, Applications - May 5, 2010

America employs Computer Software Engineers to develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database development as part of a team. May work on both Research and Development software as well as non R & D software. Computer Software Engineers, Applications are one of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classifications, 15-1031, but they are also known as applications developer, programmer analyst, or software designer. They are different jobs from Computer Software Engineers, System Software, and also different from Computer Hardware Engineers.

Computer Software Engineers for Applications have at least a few hundred jobs in nearly every sector of the economy so anyone with these skills should expect to work in every sector of the economy. Job concentrations occur in Computer systems design, one of the professional service industries, with a third of the jobs, finance and insurance with 10 percent of jobs, and software publishers with a little under 8 percent. Manufacturing firms employ 10 percent of Computer Software Engineers for Applications but spread among all manufacturing sub sectors.

There are 494 thousand working as Computer Software Engineers for Applications in 2008, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies as a job needing a minimum of BA degree skills. The total does not include college faculty, which is considered a separate occupation titled, computer science teachers, post secondary. Around 32.5 thousand teach college Computer Science and a master degree is most likely a necessary requirement here.

Jobs are up but only an average of 14,940 a year since 2000 with a growth rate far above the national average. Job growth is expected to be 17.5 thousand a year for the next 5 to 10 years.

Job growth is not the only measure of new hiring. Job openings equal job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can be any job growth. Job openings for computer software engineers for applications have been averaging around 26.6 thousand per year in recent years, but they are projected to be around 21.8 thousand per year over the next 5 to 10 years.

The entry wage for Computer Software Engineers for Applications is reported as $53,720 in 2008, which is also the 10th percentile wage. The median wage is $85,340, and the 90th percentile wage is $128,870. Yearly reported wage increases kept up with inflation with real wages up modestly in the median range through 2004, but falling a percent or two up to 2008. Buying power crept up more at the lower 10th and 25th percentiles, but not at all at the 90th percentile. The 90th percentile wage is 2.4 times the entry level wage, or 10th percentile wage, which implies there is opportunity for advancement.

New BA degrees in computing are part of 10 different Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services specialties and those 10 are part of 22 degree programs in Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services. BA degrees in Computer Science programs totaled 42,170 for the year ending 2007. The latest total is down from 47,299 degrees in 2001 and also down from 59,488 in 2004. The biggest share of these degrees are general survey courses in information systems and computer science and not specifically for computer software engineers for applications. There were also 16,232 masters degrees and 1,595 doctorates in the computer science programs.

The number of annual graduates in computer science across the 22 degree programs is more than the number of job openings for computer software engineers for applications, but it is only one of 9 computer occupations with employment of 100 thousand or more. The total of computer graduates lags behind the number of job openings for the 8 computer occupations defined in the Standard Occupational Classification that use BA degree skills, and another occupation, computer support specialist. To the extent that computer degree holders can find computing jobs from a variety of degree programs, there are more openings than degree holders.

Computer Software Engineer for Application is just one of 114 entry level jobs using BA degree skills. For other degrees and other jobs see the College Jobs Review.

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Chemists - March 1, 2010

America employs chemists to conduct qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses or chemical experiments in laboratories for quality or process control or to develop new products or knowledge. Chemists are one of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classifications, 19-2031, but they are also known as inorganic chemists or chemical analyst. Chemist is a separate occupation from other occupations that use a chemistry skills such as Chemical engineer, 17-2041 and biochemists, 19-1021.

Almost all manufacturing firms hire a few chemists and 41.8 percent of those employed as chemists work in manufacturing. The Chemical manufacturing industry employs the highest share of chemists, at 34.4 percent, leaving only 7.4 percent of chemists working in manufacturing to be working in other manufacturing. Over half of chemists working in chemical manufacturing work for Pharmaceutical firms or firms manufacturing medicine, around 19 percent actually.

Just over 11 percent of chemists work for engineering firms and another 17 percent are employed in scientific research and development. About 7 percent work at federal, state, and local governments. The remainder are quite scattered with nearly one percent working in waste management and remediation.

There are 84.3 thousand working as chemists in 2008, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies as a job needing a minimum of BA degree skills. The total does not include college faculty, which is considered a separate occupation titled, chemistry teachers, post secondary. Around 19.9 thousand teach college chemistry and a PhD is most likely a necessary requirement here.

Jobs are up but only an average of 95 a year since 2000 with a growth rate far below the national average. Job growth is expected to be only 210 a year for the next 5 to 10 years.

Job growth is not the only measure of new hiring. Job openings equal job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can be any job growth. Job openings for chemists have been averaging around 3,500 per year in recent years, but they are projected to be around 3,000 thousand per year over the next 5 to 10 years.

The entry wage for chemists is reported as $37,840 in 2008, which is also the 10th percentile wage. The median wage is $66,230, and the 90th percentile wage is $113,080. Yearly reported wage increases keep up with inflation and real wages rise modestly in the median range. Buying power has creeped up slightly the last 7 to 8 years. The 90th percentile wage is 2.4 times the entry level wage, or 10th percentile wage, which implies there is opportunity for advancement.

New BA degrees in chemistry are part of 8 different chemistry specialties and those 8 are part of 33 degree programs in physical science specialties. BA degrees in chemistry programs totaled 10,994 for the year ending 2007. The total is up from 9,006 degrees in 2001.

New jobs using BA degree skills in chemistry are small compared to the number of annual graduates. There were also 5,811 masters degrees and 4,844 doctorates in the chemistry programs. Some of the doctoral degree holders will enter college teaching, but BA degree candidates may find themselves applying for the same jobs as the advanced degree holders. Even though chemistry graduates out number job openings a BA degree in chemistry qualifies for secondary school teaching and other related speciaities in environmental science, food science and pre-medicine. Any mismatch of degree holders and job openings and career goals are probably small at this time.

Chemist is just one of 114 entry level jobs using BA degree skills. For other degrees and other jobs see the College Jobs Review.

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Accountants and Auditors - January 4, 2010

America employs accountants and auditors to examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records for the purpose of giving advice or preparing statements. They set up accounting systems or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data. Accountants and auditors are a Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS) Standard Occupational Classification, 13-2011, but they are also known as Certified Public Accountant, Bursars, and Tax Accountants. T

Every business sector of the economy hires accountants, but almost a quarter work for accounting firms or accounting and tax preparation firms. Other sectors that hire large numbers of accountants are in finance and insurance, health care and non profit associations. Finance and insurance hires a little over 8 percent of accountants.

There are 1.29 million working as accountants and auditors including the self employed. BLS classifies accountants and auditors as a job needing BA degree skills, but those pursuing a career in accounting also need to pass accounting exams to become certified public accountants.

Jobs are up by an average of 33,793 a year since 2000 with a growth rate at 3.46 percent compounded annually, far above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is forecasting annual growth at almost 28 thousand jobs a year through 2018.

Job growth is not the only measure of new hiring. Job openings equal job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can be any job growth. Job openings for accountants and auditors have been averaging around 43 to 45 thousand per year in recent years, but they are projected to be around 49.7 thousand a year over the next 5 to 10 years.

The entry wage for Accountants is reported as $36,720 in 2008, which is also the 10th percentile wage. The median wage is $59,430, and the 90th percentile wage is $102,380. Yearly reported wage increases are keeping up with inflation. Buying power is above that of earlier years going back to 2000. The 90th percentile wage is 1.7 times the entry level wage, or 10th percentile wage, which implies reasonable opportunity for advancement.

New BA degrees in accounting are part of 6 different accounting specialties and those 6 are part of 86 degree programs in business administration. BA degrees in accounting programs totaled 43,812 for the year ending 2007. The total the BA in accounting is up from nearly 32,460 degrees in 2001.

New jobs using BA degree skills in accounting are not far apart from the number of annual graduates. However, there were also 10,415 masters degrees and 35 doctorates in the accounting programs. Some of these degree holders may enter teaching, but BA degree candidates may find themselves applying for the same jobs as the advanced degree holders.

Accounting is just one of 114 entry level jobs using BA degree skills. For other degrees and jobs see the College Jobs Review.

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Forester - September 15, 2009

American employs Foresters to manage forested lands for economic, recreational, and conservation uses. They assess the type, amount, and location of standing timber, appraise its value, negotiate its purchase, and write contracts for procurement. They maybe employed to conserve wildlife habitats, creek beds, water quality, and soil stability, and comply with environmental regulations. They maybe employed to plant and grow new trees, monitor growth, determine the time for harvesting and manage forests for public and privately-owned forested lands. Foresters are one of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classifications, 19-1032, but they are also known as Ecologists and Timber Managers.

State governments are the biggest employers of foresters with 26 percent of the total but the combined total of federal, state, and local government employment comes to 53 percent. Otherwise 10 percent are part of the Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry, primarily in logging. Wood products manufacturing including sawmills employ another 11 percent with small percentages in teaching, scientific consulting, and wholesale trade.

Just over 10,100 work as foresters as of 2008, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies as a job needing BA degree skills. Jobs are up but only an average of 34 a year since 2000 with a growth rate far below the national average.

Job growth is not the only measure of new hiring. Job openings equal job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can be any job growth. Job openings for foresters have been averaging around 427 per year in recent years, but they are projected to be around 5 thousand over the next 5 to 10 years.

The entry wage for foresters is reported as $34,710 in 2008, which is also the 10th percentile wage. The median wage is $53,750, and the 90th percentile wage is $78,350. Yearly reported wage increases barely keep up with inflation. Buying power is about the same over the last 7 to 8 years. The 90th percentile wage is 2.25 times the entry level wage, or 10th percentile wage, which implies there is opportunity for advancement.

New BA degrees in Forestry are part of 8 different forestry specialties and those 8 are part of 21 degree programs in natural resources and conservation. BA degrees in forestry programs totaled 999 for the year ending 2007. The total is down from nearly 1,300 degrees in 2001. Natural Resource programs including forestry had 8,660 BA degrees in the same period and these are off slightly as well.

New jobs using BA degree skills in forestry are not far apart from the number of annual graduates. However, there were also 456 masters degrees and 146 doctorates in the forestry programs. Some of these degree holders may enter teaching, but BA degree candidates may find themselves applying for the same jobs as the advanced degree holders. Biology programs include ecology and conservation programs so these add to potential graduates competing for the same work.

foresters is just one of 114 entry level jobs using BA degree skills. For other degrees and other jobs see the College Jobs Review.

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Biology Technicians - June 3, 2009

America employs Biology Technicians to assist biological and medical scientists in laboratories. Work includes setting up, operating and maintaining laboratory instruments and equipment, monitoring experiments, making observations, and calculating and recording results. They may analyze organic substances, like blood, food, and drugs. Biology Technicians are a Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS) Standard Occupational Classification, 19-4021, but they are also known as Biotechnologist, Wildlife Technician and Specimen Technician.

Biology Technicians primarily work in laboratories. Universities employ 30 percent of Biology Technicians to assist in their research laboratories and medical schools. A little over 37 percent work for firms doing research and development including testing laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. Another 20 percent work in government. Health care employs a little over 5 percent of them, but health care has many types of technician work.

Almost all Biology Technicians work under the supervision of someone with a doctorate or medical degree, or both. Medical scientists, epidemiologists, microbiologists and biological scientist jobs can be filled with biologists, but these jobs require a doctorate in biology.

Just over 72,200 work as Biology Technicians as of 2008, which BLS classifies as a job needing BA degree skills. Biology Technicians have been growing much faster than the rate for all jobs with jobs up an average of a little over 3,818 a year since 2000. But jobs as Biology Technicians jumped from almost 60 thousand in 2004 to 69 thousand in 2006 before leveling off.

Job growth is not the only measure of new hiring. Job openings equal job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can be any job growth. Job openings for biology technicians have been averaging around 2,474 a year in recent years, but they are projected to be around 4 thousand in next few years.

The entry wage for Biology Technicians is reported as $24,530 in 2008, which is also the 10th percentile wage. The median wage is $38,400, and the 90th percentile wage is $62,260. Yearly reported wage increases barely keep up with inflation. Buying power is about the same over the last 7 to 8 years. The 90th percentile wage is 2.5 times the entry level wage, or 10th percentile wage, which implies there is opportunity for advancement for those who do well.

New BA degrees are in the biological and biomedical sciences with 75,151 degrees granted in the year ending June 2007, which is up from 60,256 in 2002. BA degrees in biology are in 78 specialized programs, although 70 percent of degrees are in one major, general biology. Biology degrees continue to be a growing percentage of annual BA degrees, which is now up to 4.9 percent of all BA degrees for the year ending 2007.

Jobs using BA degree skills in biology are small relative to the number of annual graduates. At the current level of openings and new graduates, those with biology skills should be ready to teach, which means biology majors should also fulfill their state's teaching certification requirements. Otherwise graduate work or patience is the best advice for those who want to work in jobs using biology.

Biology Technicians is just one of 114 entry level jobs using BA degree skills. For other degrees and other jobs see the College Jobs Review.

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Graphic Design - March 24, 2009

America employs Graphic Designers to design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects. Graphic designers are a Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS) Standard Occupational Classification, 27-1024, but they are also known as graphic artists, layout artists, and categlog illustrators. Just over 201 thousand work as graphic designers, which BLS classifies as a job needing BA degree skills.

Graphic designers have significant employment in four industries. Design service firms like art and graphic design or interior design and industrial design make up about 11 percent of Graphic Design jobs. Advertising firms hire another 8 to 9 percent. The printing industry, which are considered manufacturing, employs another 7 percent. Almost all manufacturing firms have some jobs for graphic designers. Publishing, especially newspapers and periodical publishers have another 10 to 11 percent of jobs in this field. Graphic design is also a skill where many work independently as self employed contractors.

Graphic Designers have been growing much faster than the rate for all jobs with jobs up an average of a little over 9,000 a year since 2000. Job growth is not as good a measure of new hiring as job openings. Job openings are job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can be any job growth.

Job openings have been averaging around 12,350 a year in recent years. The recent past has seen large numbers of openings, but these totals are expected to decline some to 9 or 10 thousand openings a year for the next several years.

Relevant BA degree programs are in Design and Applied Arts (50.04) where there were 18,198 BA degree graduates in 9 programs for the year ending June 2006, the latest full year available. The 9 programs include 3,714 BA degrees specifically in a degree titled Graphic Design (50.0409). Also there were 3,572 BA degrees in Design and Visual Communications, General (50.0401) with other relevant, but somewhat less computer oriented, degrees in art, design, and illustration.

The entry wage for Grapic Designers has been $25,090, which is also the 10th percentile wage. The median wage is $41,280, and the 90th percentile wage is $72,230. Wage increases for Grapic Designers have been rising, but no faster than inflation. Buying power just keeps up, but no more. The 90th percentile wage is nearly 3 times the entry level wage, or 10th percentile wage, which implies there is opportunity for advancement for those who do well.

Graphic Design is just one of 114 entry level jobs using BA degree skills. For other degrees and other jobs see the College Jobs Review.

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Technical Writing - February 15, 2009

America employs Technical Writers to write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. Many assist in layout work. Nearly 46,400 work as technical writers using BA degree skills. Technical writing is one of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification# 27-3042.

Jobs in the computer and software industries make up about 16 percent of technical writing jobs with another 16 percent work for manufacturing firms that need documentation material and professional manuals. Publishing employs another 16 percent across many industries. The rest are scattered around many industries because finance, health care and so many industries need to explain technical material. A small percentage are self employed.

Technical writers have not been growing since 2000 with job totals from 44,000 to 47,000 in the years since 2000. Job growth is not as good a measure of new hiring as job openings. Job openings are job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can be any job growth.

Job openings are averaging around 2,200 a year in recent years. Relevant BA degree programs include Technical and Business Writing (23.11), English Language and Literature, General (23.01) and also Journalism (9.04) degrees that teach writing as a career. For those interested in technical writing it is wise to find a college that offers the Technical and Business Writing specialty in that only a few actually specialize in technical writing.

There were 454 Technical and Business Writing (23.11) degrees for the last full year of data reported by the Department of Education. There were 42,034 BA degrees in English Language and Literature, General (23.01), and 13,955 BA degrees in journalism.

The entry wage for Technical Writers has been $36,490. The median wage is $60,390, and the 90th percentile wage is $94,550. Wage increases for Technical Writers have been rising as fast as inflation so buying power is keeping up. Notice too the much higher 90th percentile wage over the entry level, or 10th percentile wage. Good work and steady services brings higher wages and advancement.

Technical Writing is just one of 114 entry level jobs using BA degree skills. For other degrees and other jobs see the College Jobs Review..